Window AC not drianing

old

Well-known Member
So I have this small 5000 or so BTU window AC in the computer room. It drains water out side like it should and it even waters part of my garden with it.. But the inside coil is always wet and it also drips water inside. Fan also sounds like it is sort of running in water. Wish it was an easy to pull out unit but it is not since it is sealed with the spray foam stuff. So I am guessing there should be a drain hole some place that would let the water go out the back that must be clogged up. So is there any way t open up the drain hole with out pulling it out and taking the cover off?
Thanks
 
If it was built within the last 30+ years it's not supposed to have a drain like the older ones, maybe it's tilted back towards the house.
 
The design is for no drain, condensate accumulates and fan blade tips are supposed to rotate in the water and splash it onto the coil to enchance cooling while evaporating the water. I drilled a hole in the bottom on the outside for water to drain. Much better.
 
It tills down on the out side and drains out side pretty good but also drains inside. Get enough out side from the strawberry bed get a good bit of watering done to it
 
(quoted from post at 11:30:58 08/03/17) The design is for no drain, condensate accumulates and fan blade tips are supposed to rotate in the water and splash it onto the coil to enchance cooling while evaporating the water. I drilled a hole in the bottom on the outside for water to drain. Much better.
X2!!
 
Instead of drilling a hole in the bottom, I have taken a piece of baler twine about 4" long and tuck it under the back grille so it is in the water and hangs down from the back of the unit. The twine acts as a siphon and lowers the water level in the pan.
 
Hello old,

There is a little thought that leads to the back of the condenser. Lint from the filter and air born dust fills it up and the drain fills to the point that comes in the house. You can take the front cover off and the filter and vacuum the little reservoir under the evaporator. If you can see where it leads to the back, probably not, you can concentrate the vacuum tool there. You may not need to do it though. Also, while you in there, give a good vacuum to the front of the evaporator. Stay cool!..

Guido.
 
One more thing - if you choose to add a drain hole (necessary under super-humid conditions), be VERY careful to avoid the refrigerant tubes!! ...Don't ask me how I know. :oops:
 
I have blown the cooling fins out with canned air and also spray them out with a spray bottle of water. So they are pretty clean. This is one of those real small units with no room to do much of any thing other then open it up while out of the box it sits in so I guess I'll just have to live with it for now
 
If you can see the bottom pan, maybe look from underneath, up under the evaporator there should be some drain channels embossed in the pan. That is where the condensate gets from the evap to the back end of the pan. They are probably clogged with mud from dirt dobber nests, whatever gets by the filter and settles in the pan.

Might could blow them out, poke a wire in from the front. Probably not going to be easy without taking it out and taking the cover off.
 
Old,
All new AC's are designed not to drain, so fan will splash water on condenser.

I would recommend you remove AC annually, clean, disinfect, and remove crap in condenser. Then cover unit with aluminum window screen to keep lint out.

Window AC's is a great place for mold to grow. The black stuff in pic is mold, which was removed with bleach.

I use window AC's in all my rentals. Clean with bleach every year. Remove in winter to keep cold out. Install in spring.

The only AC's that are not moldy is from a place where tenants smokes. They need de-greased from the tar in smoke. But no mold will grow in the presence of the tar and nicotine..

I drill holes in both back corners of all my AC's, or they will be a pile of rust in less than 10 years.
Geo
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Hello old,

I would still try the vacuum cleaner with a narrow tip, you might get lucky,

Guido.
 
It would take a tip that is less then 1/2 and inch to do any thing on this unit
 
I would totally agree about having a weep hole in the bottom. My '02 vintage Kenmore 8000 btu window unit had a recessed pan, with no weep hole. It would have turned in a rusty mess, but I protected the condenser or evaporator coil, (I always get these mixed up) and drilled a weep hole in to allow the pan to drain. The other thing is and you can see what happens in the photo, which will cause a compressor to fail, is they have to be inspected and cleaned inside. I was lucky with this one, did not know until I took the cover off. Nice matted felt like layer had built up and I suspect it was from when I lived in NJ as they had all those fuzzballs in the late spring. It stays clean now and I have not done as George has with the screen. I still check it every season, but nothing like the photo. The other thing I noticed after having to clean the black mold out of the duct work is to not shut it off after running it cold in humid weather or otherwise. The condensation causes the moisture problem. Run it on fan a good while after to dry out the duct. I don't get the mold anymore. What a project to clean that out. The only thing that went bad on this one was the dual capacitor, I replaced it with one almost the same by specs, and it's worked well for years. 15 seasons so far and its on right now doing a fine job of keeping my bedroom and office cool.
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A window unit needs to be kept really clean. The coil on the outside is suppose to heat the coolant so it starts over every time it cycles. If it doesn't the coolant is too cold and causes condensation on the inside coil.
 
(quoted from post at 10:59:41 08/03/17)Wish it was an easy to pull out unit but it is not since it is sealed with the spray foam stuff.
It should still be easy to remove, only the outer sleeve is glued in place by the foam. There'll be one or two screws holding the main unit into the sleeve, which should be screwed or bolted into the window frame then sealed with urethane foam or lots of silicone caulking. Once the unit is out of the sleeve it should be easy to clean.
 
The new smaller one have it so the inner part does not slide out like the bigger 220 volt units do. I picked this one up for nothing and tested it out to be sure it works then it sat a year or more so I know how it comes apart and you have to take it out all the way to open it up
 
(quoted from post at 20:23:48 08/03/17) A window unit needs to be kept really clean. The coil on the outside is suppose to heat the coolant so it starts over every time it cycles. If it doesn't the coolant is too cold and causes condensation on the inside coil.
holly sheet! I never knew that! :twisted:
 
Old,
Trust me, air pressure can't remove baked on lint and dirt from condenser. You will have to remove AC, take cover off, remove screws holding condenser in place and clean it with water, wire brush. I've seen almost total blockage of condenser in a year if you have cotton wood trees, dust stirred up by a mower, AC close to clothes dryer vent.

THEY NEED CLEANED AND SANITIZED ANNUALLY, NO EXCUSES!!!
Geo
 
(quoted from post at 14:59:41 08/03/17) So I have this small 5000 or so BTU window AC in the computer room. It drains water out side like it should and it even waters part of my garden with it.. But the inside coil is always wet and it also drips water inside. Fan also sounds like it is sort of running in water. Wish it was an easy to pull out unit but it is not since it is sealed with the spray foam stuff. So I am guessing there should be a drain hole some place that would let the water go out the back that must be clogged up. So is there any way t open up the drain hole with out pulling it out and taking the cover off?
Thanks

my air conditioners are pretty old, I clean the drain hole regularly or add one or 2 or 3 :)
Bottom tray with its water channels get an amazing amount of filth, which can block a channel and let water into the house. I spread a few cooling vents open to get screwdrivers, bent stiff wires..whatever..in there to break it up, and then hose it out, or blow it out. Then straighten the louvers back out...sorta.

Bleach is a little harsh on stuff, so I use vinegar in a spray bottle. I don't rinse it off. Keeps the mold at bay. Reminds me of carnival french fries for a few days, but I like that smell!
 
My comments:

Physics of heat flow say that if a surface is cooler than the dew point, moisture in the air will condense on it thus making it wet.....aka glass of iced tea sitting on a table starts sweating!

The "evaporator coil" in your air conditioner, especially refrigerated types vs evaporative type (where water drips down on a rag and air is blown across it relying on the heat of evaporation to cool your room), is designed to run just above freezing at the outlet of the coil as it's minimum temperature. Below freezing the water droplets would freeze and eventually block off the air flow aggravating the situation.

Most coils, being evaporator (picking up the heat) or condenser (dumping the heat....outside the dwelling) have a 30 degree F differential temperature across the coil from inlet to outlet. This temperature follows inlet air temp and as it does it's work, the room cools so the inlet air cools so the cooler air results in cooler freon leaving and on and on as your room temp comes down to the selected temp. The unit has a BTU per hour rating and cannot remove heat any faster than it's rating. You can vary the fan speed varying the distribution of the cooled air, but you can't make it work harder by decreasing the thermostat setting. It'll get there when conditions allow it.

Since the evaporator coils, cooling the room, are cooler than the surrounding moisture laden air, moisture collects on the coils and drops down into a pan which is connected via a duct to the rear of the unit where the condenser coil is located.

The condenser coil also has a 30 degree temp differential across it's job is to cool the refrigerant back down to where it was when it entered the evaporator coil in the house. Gas laws and pressure changes affecting the gas are how this is done but not part of this comment.

The water that the unit accumulates and routes to the rear where the condenser coil is located is deliberately accumulated in a "sump". A fan that is on the other end of the shaft that is part of your fan motor and which also drives the squirrel cage (fan) drawing air through your evaporator, has a slinger ring on it....the diameter of the blades are attached to a metallic ring.

As the fan rotates this ring dips down into the water sump and pulls water up which the fan blows across the condenser coil in it's attempt to eliminate the heat the the evaporator coil picked up.

More phyics: Heat of Evaporation is the process whereby water evaporates and doing so has the ability to absorb an enormous amount of heat. The designers of room AC units deliberately design their equipment to operate on this principle and that sump is the main reason you can get 11+ efficiency ratings on your room air conditioners.

Don't drain it, leave it be.

Installation instructions show you how much to tilt your window air conditioner to ensure that the water runs to the rear and does it's job.

If the path from the room to the outside becomes plugged due to bacteria/algae/mold, the drain pipe can't do it's job and the water in the evaporator sump will overflow into the room.

A little household bleach in the evaporator sump periodically will kill the bacteria and a piece of wire can be worked around to unplug the channel without removing the unit.

Periodically, depending on your environment, the unit needs to be removed for cleaning of the mold that develops on the interior and the debris that accumulates on the condenser cooling fins externally. Back when our road was rock, I had to do this annually. Now it's every 3-4 years.

Small units, like 10k BTU and below have to be completely removed and dismantled to clean. Larger units like 15k BTU and up weighing 100# and more slide out of a permanently installed case and can be cleaned with few parts requiring removal. Some appliance stores have service technicians who will do this maintenance for you.

HTH,
Mark
 
Hello old,

I suggested the vacuuming of the evaporetor because air is drawn through it and blown into the room. So is like reverse flushing a coolant radiator. You can't blow it clean. Here is a picture that shows a straw adapted to a vacuum cleaner tube with duct tape, Billy Bob adapter?

Guido.
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I've use something sort of like that to suck out the lime scale in a water heater a number of times. But I used a metal pipe so I could also break up the lime
 

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